Backends¶

Q2MM supports multiple MM backends for energy evaluation, frequency calculation, and geometry optimization. This page compares their capabilities and documents when optimized parameters can be transferred between backends.

For detailed information on each backend, see the individual pages:

OpenMM — mature, dual functional-form support (Harmonic + MM3)
Tinker — subprocess-based MM3 backend
JAX — pure-JAX differentiable backend with analytical gradients
JAX-MD — JAX-MD backend with periodic boundaries and neighbor lists
Psi4 — quantum mechanics backend for generating reference data
QCEngine — reference adapter for QCSchema-compatible programs
ASE — reference adapter for lightweight ASE calculators
Authoring a plugin — public backend API-v1 contract and conformance

Backend overview¶

Psi4 is a reference backend used for quantum-mechanical calculations and is not included in the MM comparison tables below.

Feature	OpenMM	Tinker	JAX	JAX-MD
Functional forms	Harmonic, MM3	MM3	Harmonic, MM3	Harmonic
Bond/angle terms	✅	✅	✅	✅
Torsions	✅	✅	✅	✅
Improper torsions	❌	❌	❌	❌
vdW (LJ 12-6)	✅ Harmonic mode	❌	✅	✅
vdW (Buckingham exp-6)	✅ MM3 mode	✅	✅ MM3 mode	❌
Electrostatics	❌	Tinker default	❌	Infrastructure only (charges zeroed)
1-4 scaling	✅ AMBER (ε/2) in Harmonic	MM3 default	❌ Not implemented	✅ Configurable (default AMBER)
Periodic boundaries	❌	❌	❌	✅
Neighbor lists	❌	❌	❌	✅ (jax-md native)
Runtime param updates	✅	❌ (subprocess per call)	✅	✅
Analytical gradients	⚠️ bond/angle only	❌	✅ via `jax.grad`	✅ via `jax.grad`
JIT compilation	N/A	N/A	✅	✅
Platform	Linux, macOS, Windows	Linux, macOS	Linux, macOS, WSL2	Linux, macOS, WSL2

Functional forms¶

Each backend only accepts force fields whose functional_form is in its supported set. Attempting to use an unsupported form raises an error.

Harmonic¶

Standard AMBER/OPLSAA-style potential:

Bonds: E = k·(r − r₀)²
Angles: E = k·(θ − θ₀)²
vdW: E = 4ε·[(σ/r)¹² − (σ/r)⁶]

Supported by: OpenMM (Harmonic mode), JAX (Harmonic mode), JAX-MD

MM3¶

Allinger's MM3 potential with higher-order anharmonic corrections:

Bonds: E = k·(10·Δr)²·(1 − 2.55·(10·Δr) + 4.7266·(10·Δr)²)
Angles: E = k·Δθ²·(1 − 0.014·Δθ° + 5.6×10⁻⁵·Δθ°² − …)
vdW: Buckingham exp-6: E = ε·[184000·exp(−12r/rᵥ) − 2.25·(rᵥ/r)⁶]

Supported by: OpenMM, JAX, Tinker

JAX MM3 support

The JAX backend supports both harmonic and MM3 functional forms, including cubic bond stretch, sextic angle bend, and Buckingham exp-6 vdW terms.

Non-bonded treatment¶

Non-bonded interactions (van der Waals, electrostatics) are computed between all atom pairs not excluded by bonding topology. The details differ between backends.

Exclusions¶

All backends exclude 1-2 (bonded) and 1-3 (angle endpoint) pairs from non-bonded calculations.

1-4 Scaling¶

Atoms separated by exactly 3 bonds ("1-4 pairs") often receive scaled-down non-bonded interactions. This is a key compatibility difference:

Backend	1-4 LJ Scaling	1-4 Coulomb Scaling
OpenMM (Harmonic)	ε/2 (AMBER `scnb=2.0`)	N/A (no charges)
OpenMM (MM3)	None (MM3 convention)	N/A
Tinker	MM3 default	MM3 default
JAX	Not implemented	N/A
JAX-MD	Configurable (default: 0.5)	Configurable

JAX backend lacks 1-4 scaling

The JAX backend does not implement 1-4 pair scaling. For molecules with 1-4 non-bonded interactions (anything with 4+ atoms in a chain), JAX will compute slightly different non-bonded energies than OpenMM or JAX-MD. For small molecules where the bonded energy dominates (bonds + angles only), this difference is negligible.

Combining rules¶

All backends use geometric combining rules for cross-term vdW parameters:

σ_ij = √(σ_i · σ_j)
ε_ij = √(ε_i · ε_j)

Cutoffs¶

Backend	Default	Notes
OpenMM	No cutoff	All pairs computed
Tinker	Tinker config	Depends on .key file
JAX	No cutoff	All pairs computed
JAX-MD	~12 Å	Configurable; uses neighbor lists

Parameter transferability¶

Can parameters optimized on one backend be used on another? This depends on whether the backends compute the same energy for the same force field.

Compatibility matrix¶

From ↓ / To →	OpenMM (Harmonic)	OpenMM (MM3)	Tinker	JAX	JAX-MD
OpenMM (Harmonic)	✅	❌	❌	⚠️	✅
OpenMM (MM3)	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌
Tinker	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌
JAX	⚠️	✅	✅	✅	⚠️
JAX-MD	✅	❌	❌	⚠️	✅

Legend:

✅ Identical — same energy to machine precision
⚠️ Bonded terms match, non-bonded may differ — see notes below
❌ Incompatible — different functional form

When ⚠️ Becomes ✅¶

The ⚠️ entries (OpenMM Harmonic ↔ JAX, JAX ↔ JAX-MD) produce identical energies when:

The molecule has no 1-4 non-bonded pairs (e.g., water, CH₃F with only 3–5 atoms) — then the missing 1-4 scaling in JAX doesn't matter.
vdW parameters are zero (only optimizing bonded terms) — then non-bonded differences vanish entirely.

For molecules with significant 1-4 interactions (longer chains, rings), the JAX backend will give different non-bonded energies than OpenMM or JAX-MD.

Verified parity¶

Cross-backend energy and frequency agreement has been measured on CH₃F (see benchmarks):

JAX ↔ JAX-MD: < 10⁻²⁰ kcal/mol energy difference (machine precision)
JAX ↔ OpenMM: < 10⁻¹⁸ kcal/mol energy difference
Frequencies: < 0.001 cm⁻¹ max deviation across all backends

CH₃F has no 1-4 pairs, so all three harmonic backends agree exactly.

Choosing a backend¶

Use Case	Recommended Backend	Why
Fast optimization	JAX or JAX-MD	Fastest harmonic / analytical-gradient options in the current benchmark set; see benchmarks for workload-specific comparisons
MM3 force fields	OpenMM, Tinker, or JAX	Backends supporting MM3 functional forms
Periodic systems	JAX-MD	Only backend with periodic boundary support
Torsion optimization	OpenMM, Tinker, JAX, or JAX-MD	All backends support torsions
Widest compatibility	OpenMM	Supports both Harmonic and MM3, mature ecosystem
Gradient-based optimizers	JAX or JAX-MD	Analytical `jax.grad` eliminates finite-difference overhead

Unit conventions¶

All backends accept parameters in canonical units (defined in q2mm.models.units). Each backend converts internally as needed:

Quantity	Canonical Unit	Convention
Bond force constant	kcal/(mol·Å²)	`E = k·(r − r₀)²` (no ½ factor)
Bond equilibrium	Å	—
Angle force constant	kcal/(mol·rad²)	`E = k·(θ − θ₀)²` (no ½ factor)
Angle equilibrium	degrees	Converted to radians internally
vdW epsilon	kcal/mol	—
vdW radius	Å (Rmin/2)	Converted to LJ σ where needed

The ½ factor

Q2MM uses E = k·(x − x₀)² without the ½ factor. This matches AMBER and MM3 conventions. OpenMM's HarmonicBondForce uses E = ½·k·(r − r₀)², so the backend doubles the force constant during conversion.

Backend plugins¶

Backend API version 1 is the stable public authoring contract. External distributions advertise a lightweight JSON-safe manifest in the exact q2mm.backends entry-point group; Q2MM discovers descriptors lazily and imports implementations only on explicit load. See Authoring a backend plugin for the exact manifest schema, runtime contract, failure-isolation rules, and public conformance runner.